#i need to start thumbnailing my art pieces lol

[shroudbud]

IDIAAAA,, 💀🔥 it feels good to draw him again omg

(i redrew an older piece from 2022 lol)

[leeyanyanyaaan]

Kayn x Graffiti Artist!Reader

16 / 11 / 2023

hi hi~ welcome to the start of my heartsteel x headcanon series "creatively charmed"! sorry, i cant think of a better title atm LOL anyways, this is gonna be a series of the heartsteel band with a lover who's got a creative side to them XD that's all, hope you enjoy! next up will be sett ^-^

Started with another one of days where Kayn decided to go out and wreak havoc by vandalizing everything LOL

When he does he often comes across a lot of grafitti art, this one in particular has a certain style to it

He always lets out a little chuckle when he sees it.

Now, as a fellow artist himself, he is respectful enough to not ruin that person's art, but he does his own grafitti nearby. For him it always includes his HEARTSTEEL icon and if he's feeling good then some song lyrics or a joke

This time, it was shortly after HEARTSTEEL's debut MV released, so when he left to do his usual vandalizing, he wrote "two sides to a story but they never tell my side" with a bunch of doodles. He was particularly proud of this piece, so he was planning to continue working on it the next day

What he didn't expect, however, was for someone to continue the lyrics, with "never been the kinda guy to stay inside the guidelines" written underneath, as well as some art of Kayn's scenes and even a headshot drawing of him from their single's thumbnail

Kayn was surprised and amazed to see it, and broke out into an excited shit-eating grin once he saw the artist's signature that he saw in all their other pieces

"So, looks like I captured this person's heart too. Ever the popular star I am, no?"

And so, he continued the lyrics to his verse, secretly hoping this grafitti artist will continue it again.

Which they did, and gradually, that specific wall gradually filled up with PARANOIA's lyrics from their gradual exchange, even with additional doodles of the other members, Ernest and Rhaast, and some of the funny scenes of the MV

Even mini conversations started with side comments on each others drawings, for example:

"This dog -> true MVP of HEARTSTEEL"

"The dog in the MV? His name's Ernest. (But Kayn is the real MVP)"

"LOL u come up w that name? I can see it tho ngl"

Oh right, this person doesn't know this is THE Kayn Shieda they're talking to

Anyways, this exchange made Kayn excited to come back every time (even his bandmates questioned why he goes out every night looking all excited)

Same with Rhaast actually LOL, but Kayn doesn't let him because he knows how crazy he gets when it comes to vandalizing

"I WANT A TURNNN KAYNNN" "No! I don't need you drawing 100 dicks on the wall again!" "THAT'S HOW MUCH OF A DICKHEAD YOU AREE-"

But alas, all good things must come to an end, after... 2 months, I guess? They had finished writing all the lyrics of the song and the whole wall was full of just HEARTSTEEL PARANOIA. Okay, so that's the end of it then.

Until a paper plane hit the top of Kayn's head. Annoyed, Kayn immediately lifted his head up to the direction it was thrown, yapping angrily at whoever had the fucking audacity to do that

Just as he was about to crumple the plane, he noticed writing on one of its wings, "read me!" Raising a brow curiously, he opened up the paperplane, where it revealed a username with a discord logo drawn next to it, along with your artist signature :)

I love how writing for Kayn gives me the free reign to swear AHAHAHDJSN

[flightyalrighty]

(sorry if you've gotten this before or if this is not the right kind of question for the blog)

Do you have any advice on HOW to make a comic series? From what I've seen your work is fantastic, well made and written! (Cool concepts, story, and character dynamics etc)

How did you start? How DO you start?? How do you comic lol

I'm glad you enjoy my work! I'll do my best to answer this question!

I could give the ol' "Just jump in! Get started!" But I don't think that's the answer you're looking for, here. Even if it's technically the correct one.

"How do you make a comic series" Is one of those questions where the answer is kinda difficult to summarize in a single ask, because there's a whole lot that goes into it, y'know? I'll give you a brief run-down of my process.

I figure an idea for a story. In the case of Infested, the whole story was written before I even got started on the script. This is an outlier in my usual process and I don't normally do this and definitely don't recommend it.

Figure the plot like how you would figure a regular story's plot; The beats you wanna hit, the way the characters develop, the beginning, the middle, the end. What's the point of the story? What, exactly, are you trying to convey here? Who's the target audience? All that stuff ought to be figured out before even picking up a [MEDIUM OF ARTIST'S CHOICE].

Script the story. If you've seen a movie script, these things look a bit like that. You wanna not skip this step because this is where you determine the visual language of each page. Comic script writing is a whole thing and a half but I do have some random tips regarding it. -> When writing the beginning of a new scene, write down the time of day, the weather, and any important details about your setting (this is most important if you're working in a team). -> Using storyboard/film language when trying to figure out a scene is very helpful. You're not gonna remember exactly how that scene looked in your head when you finally get around to penciling it. Trust me. Write it down. Or thumbnail it! Thumbnails are also very helpful! -> Remember that you have very limited space for dialogue. Write with that in mind.

Figure the paneling on a page. I work at 11x17 and do my panel layouts based on those dimensions. I tend to make more important panels, or panels with PUNCH or SHOCK bigger than the others. Each panel is an individual illustration, but together they make a whole piece. You gotta treat it like that, y'know? Find the focal point on a page, find the most important element of it, and make that your focal point. Don't be afraid to get a lil wacky with panel shapes, either. They don't HAVE to be squares and rectangles. Check out what other cartoonists do! Get inspired! Paneling is an art-form within itself!

Page from "Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name" By Tess Stone

5. Penciling time! Get the perspective figured out, then draw the background, then draw the characters. Do it in that order. Trust me. With a background already set up, characters can be drawn more like they exist within that space, instead of floating in front of it. Also? Be aware that comic artists need to be ready to draw ANYTHING. You may have a great idea that you GOTTA put out into the world, but you have no idea how to draw, say, a car. Or debris. Or jungle foliage. There's no shame in using references, tutorials, or even doing a bit of tracing if something's outside your wheelhouse. Here's a bazillion tutorials from two guys who REALLY know their stuff.

6. Speech Balloons! Yes, really. In fact, you may want to do this and penciling at the same time. I certainly do. It's better to figure this out immediately so it doesn't hurt you later when it comes to getting your balloons to share a space with your art. Here's some great advice on the whole subject from a master of the craft

7. Inks! Line weight variation is key. Closer to the "camera" means thicker lines. If a part of a character is in shadow, that part is gonna get thicker lines, too. Personally, I make my background line art thinner than character line art. It helps the characters pop out!

8. Flats! Or flat colors if you wanna get specific about terminology. It's exactly what it sounds like -- Coloring the characters and backgrounds with the bare bones basic colors. I highly recommend keeping the character flats and bg flats on separate layers if you're working digitally.

9. Rendering! There's no hard and fast rule as to how a cartoonist ought to render their comic -- If they want to do that at all, even. Go with what you believe looks good AND is something you can do quickly. The "quickly" part is important. Heed my warning. Don't be like me.

And then I'd schedule the comic to be uploaded on whatever day suits me -- Thursday (usually) in Infested's case.

Of course, I kinda suck at relaying my process, so the final thing I can do for you is direct you to an extremely helpful book that really breaks it down in a way that may click with you as it did with me.

I hope this was in any way helpful to you!

[piyo13sdoodles]

day 28, chapter 76:

At the expression on Quintus' face Cliopher could take no more. He started laughing before he made it out of the room, though the loudest whoops came after he'd reached the hallway. He did not get far along, just sank down at the top of the stairs so he could try to muffle his mirth with his hands. ~ "Your family seems somewhat perturbed," Rhodin observed after a few minutes.

and bonus gallery shot + musings under the cut because it's been exactly 4 weeks now:

fun to see what kinds of patterns intentionally or unintentionally crop up... or also which days i can tell i was busy vs which days i had time or worked in advance to dedicate more time to the piece. if anyone's curious, on average one of these might take me 2-3 hours to complete! more detailed ones like october 23 i think probably took me closer to 5 hours, simpler ones like october 9 maybe 1.5h.

i am both sad and glad it's almost over--i've definitely lost a fair amount of sleep trying to get these done in time (usually i work a day ahead so i can post at a reasonable time, but that hasn't always worked out, especially in the final stretch here), so this pace does become untenable on top of work, but it also is really fun to make so much art! and to always have something to work on rather than becoming trapped into that idea of 'what should i do, too many choices, can't decide..' the answer is always inktober!

in any case, seeing the gallery like this is also interesting to me because it really helps me realize where i could have/should have pushed the ink a bit more--working in ink is (to me; this is definitely not gospel, just how i consider ink work) an exercise in controlling contrast. you don't have colour to drive edges or cool/warm tones, so the only value you have is the light-dark contrast, and in my mind at least, good use of contrast should carry across to a smaller format. for example, zoomed out like this i can see that october 11th really needed more contrast in the feathers--they blend too much into the background in a way that doesn't really work to emphasize that ludvic is standing in front of the candles there. otoh, on october 5, i think that one's fine because what i wanted was for the moon to draw the eye first, and THEN for you to notice HR sitting there.

overall, also, i want to keep these interesting--if the compositions are always the same, then it can become repetitive or boring, so i wanted a good mix of light and dark compositions, and a good balance of tone across all of them. which so far i'm pleased with! and this year i let myself use pencil undersketches and do thumbnail planning and everything (last year i really wanted to get better at visualizing the piece in my head so i set the challenge of just committing straight to paper... i'm still happy with last year's but you can tell i took on much more challenging compositions this year lol)

anyway!! much to think about, so much to learn, i wanted to work a bit in advance again so i won't be putting tomorrow's up almost at midnight again but alas i think it was not meant to be, so i'm off to bed and if you read this whole thing, congrats, have a cookie *hands you a cookie*

[just-ghaleon]

NEW ASK GAME: Tell me to finish one of my 105 Lunar clipstudio and paint tool sai drawing WIPs

Send me an ask or reply in the comments! :3c (plz&thnx, I need the prodding to actually FINISH stuff ;;u;;)

You can also pester me for more Queer Lunar Theory and Headcanons at the same time, if you want! <3

WIP Queue List (TY <3):

@musicalmeowsandcandiedlemons wants to see ghalliebutt.clip :3c - FINISHED! Posted! :3c

ghaleons ankle monitor.clip is whispering dark secrets to @zombiemollusk >:3 - DONE! Posted!!

@fyeahlunar wants to see ALL ^^;;;;;;; (yeah me too, i'm tryinggg) narrowing it down:

lunar strip poker (lunar uno is a companion piece ;3) - It's done!! Now posted!!!

luna meets ghaleon - Old Art Redraw project, considering attack angle...

lemia comforts ghaleon - Refining sketch...

ghaleon being soft series - ehehehe, so these files are completely blank XD Sometimes I just make files with titles of what I'd like to draw while I'm waiting for poses to come to mind.. ^^; I did a quick rough sketch in each one!! One step closer to done, lol!

dead xenobia reaction - Sketch done! Now coloring and inking...

eb dyne prank - Thumbnails done! Refining layout...

blue star eclipse - Finished! Posted!!

a new journey - Refining sketch...

a new perspective -Refining sketch...

jb cast 5 years later series - These files were completely blank lol, have pasted the old pencil sketches into corresponding files, and started sketches for the ones I never had pencil sketches for!

mewthemew on my discord wants me to finish proto ghaleon.clip! - Sketch already complete, need to start dropping in colors...

(Reply or send an Ask to Queue a WIP! <3)

Misc Requests Queue (Always feel free to send me random Lunar drawing requests! They feed meee, and give me a good excuse to do more drawing memes if I'm in the mood for 'em):

Luna and Lucia for @fyeahlunar - It's finished!!

Continuing Lunar Queer Theory episodes for @zekedms - Episode 2 in progress!

Kyle and Jess hanging out in dresses for @tiphares - Sketched!

Lunar Zine Progress:

Made a project blog! (but it's uncustomized at the moment.) @lunarzine

Need to decide on deadlines...

And a page minimum...

And the physical size of the zine...

So I can make margin templates...

Need to install Scribus and find some tutorials... (Hopefully it's not too drastically different from InDesign.)

Need to research setting up a Google form for submissions...

And when most of that is done, I'll be ready to call for submissions!

[virydia]

Hi! so sorry to bother u lol and i’m sorry if you’ve already answered but what app do you use to draw? I finally saved up and have an i pad and pencil and i was gonna get procreate and i saw it was 13$… i dont mind getting it if it’s worth it but is it? Do you use it? If not then what app would you recommend? This is my first time digitally drawing btw i’ve drawn on paper before! Also honestly any tips on general on drawing digital would mean a lot! :) thank you and i hope you fave a fabulous day! 🫶🫶🫶

My such high praise 🫣 thank you so much!!

I’d say procreate is very much worth it! Though I do have some qualms about it such as it’s limited layers (depending on your canvas size) and the fact that you can’t select/edit a group (you have to do it individually, but there are workarounds)

Another one you can try is ClipStudioPaint, I don’t personally use it but my friend does and what’s cool is that if you have it on pc, from what I’m told you can connect your account on mobile and pc for a cross platform situation

Aside from procreate I also use PaintToolSai2 for pc when I’m streaming and I usually have like 50+ layers per artwork, so it was definitely a huge adjustment when I first started using procreate 😂

As for tips, definitely find references if you can! I usually use a 3D app called poseit (mobile) or posemyart (web) and it has helped me significantly! (My 3D animator ass can’t live without them now 🥲) though I don’t always follow the pose I make to a T, it’s there to help me visualize the bits and pieces I can see in my brain 😂

My process usually goes like this:

vague Shitty thumbnail —> reference/3D posing —> art

But honestly my best advice is just keep drawing and have fun with it, no need to think too much, never stop learning new things and if you have a hyper fixation that’s even better 😂

[dorkfruit]

i put this together using my computer's trackpad so the new year is already starting out . bad .

posts: J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D

template

reflections on the year, my plans for the future, some studies i did, and wips for the next year all down below for those who are interested

tldr; we will be ianthing next year so watch out!!

oh dear lord it's been another year. 2024! can you believe it! i don't talk much on this blog because i have a tendency to talk too much, but it's my little new year's treat, so here we go.

RECAP

i started taking drawing "seriously" in December of 2020, starting to do studies and stuff, and each year since i've ramped it up more and more. this year, i did. a lot of studies. there's probably like at least 200 more in my folder now (not including the 300 days worth of gesture drawings i did), with things like painting, faces, feet, poses, etc. anything i was struggling with, i went right into studying it. my art has been mediocre for a pretty long time now, and it's only the past few months where i feel i'm starting to get the hang of it, which is exciting!

more importantly, i started posting a lot more on this blog. i really like documenting my progress, looking on where i was before and seeing how i've improved. everytime i draw some fanart, im like, oooghh i can't wait to show my (: followers (: !! lots of locked tomb art of course. i've been trying to nail the energy of the different characters, which is why i enjoy books so much, because you get a lot of creative control. drawing ianthe is my fav of course, cause she's my lil nasty, but also i enjoyed doing designs for characters i hadnt thought about before, like judith.

in addition to the locked tomb, we had some new fandoms that got brief moments in between iantheposting: Fear and Hunger, Postal, Faith The Unholy Trinity, and a couple of old ones too, like We Have Always Lived In The Castle and The Merciless.

i posted about 115 times this year, although most of those are shitposts LOL i love posting stuff on my blog and showing people my stuff <3

THE FUTURE

my plans? do more ianthe art, of course. ill be working on more studies, probably going to work on developing a style, and figuring out how to paint. i'd like to do more actually finished pieces, but let's be honest, it'll still be mostly shitpost doodles. i'd like to do more weird stuff. i've been messing around with some gore and NSFW near the end of the year, and it's fun to draw for me. i like idk art that evokes some type of emotion, especially discomfort, and so i find that type of art fun to do, so if you don't enjoy what i've done thus far in that direction, perhaps this isn't the blog for you. i really like horror media, and so i want to do some stuff like that too.

for specifics, i like western type art, a comic book-esque style i'd like to aim for. but i'd like it to be a little more. weird with it. i find comic books often draw all the characters the same, and make all the characters traditionally attractive, and that's boring to me so i'll have to work on finding a way to keep things weird, while also appealing in a graphic sense. the worst thing my art could be is bland and forgettable.

locked tomb wise... more tridentarii art. need to be really weird with it. i have lots of wips planned, like i have a whole page worth of just thumbnails, so i wanna get some of those done. also i had a few animatics i wanted to do. mostly stupid shit, once i learn how to do animatics, then we'll do actual serious ones. id also like to do more comics. i have some comics storyboarded out with my girlies, i like telling a story so, need practice on that. id also like to develop a way to consistently draw them, for convenience sakes, so i'm not fighting for my life every single time i draw these characters. oh and i wanna do some outfit stuff. i draw them in like. generic clothes everytime but i'd like to come up with a few actual outfit designs, that i can just reference back to. and, of course, more shitposts. lots of stupid shit in 2024 for sure. there was something else i wanted to say here but i can't remember.

ART

oki enough rambling, here's some IMAGES for yall to look at i know everyone loves to look at images.

began this year by warming up with gesture sketches (almost) every day. i started with 20 poses (30 seconds each), and then in november i was like. ugh my hands suck i need to get better at hands, so i switched to doing 10 hand sketches (60 seconds each). i want my art to be very energetic so it's important that i do these !!

anatomy studies of extremities because i'm flopping at those -_- ive gotten better with hands but they're still a struggle. i hate feet tho still

need to get my painting game up. i joined an art forum to get advice, and the biggest suggestion i got was working on my values, so i did various value studies. also lots of faces because my faces flop !!

random doodles to work on drawing from imagination. on my "sketchbook" pages, as i like to call them, i'm usually pretty loose and messy, since the point is just to be drawing so often these will suck, but that's fine. i don't think very much when i draw faces on here either so they end up being in my Instinctive Style i suppose you could say

ianthe wip. i was planning to do a few drawings based on the idea of her having Missing Arm nightmares, but the lineart was intimidating to me so i haven't worked on this one more yet /: also there was going to be a toontown gay homosexual toxic yuri comic that i was gonna put here with it but the page is way too long so umm guess that'll have to wait.

...

anyways. thank you for reading if you got to the bottom of this! i appreciate all the support that i've been getting lately (extra big kissies for the same like 5 people who always reblog my posts youre the best). and we will be ianthing soo hard in 2024 so watch out!!

[axxelaxxelaxxel]

If you're starting out in gouache and don't know what you're doing, here's my process, hopefully it helps!!!

I've been gouache painting for a year or two now, and it's my favorite medium. Here's a piece I did last night, and below the cut is a more detailed guide to my process for anyone hoping to improve their skills. In any other case you can also just enjoy the art lol

Step One, Thumbnails!

The first thing I try to nail out is a thumbnail. The first thumbnail I came up with for this was really nice and I liked it a lot, so I kept it, but i encourage messing around with different compositions and configurations! Once you find something you like, the next step is optional since you need acril-gouache to pull it off.

(Optional) Step Two, Underpainting!

This is moreso just a personal choice honestly, but I think doing an underpainting really helps with color coordination. Unfortunately, you need acrylics or acril-gouache to do underpainting, because regular gouache will pull back up once it's dry, where acril-gouache will not. I personally have a nice little 12 color set that I got from Michaels for like, 60-ish bucks. Definitely a bit expensive.

I usually try out a few different ideas and then use a sponge to lay them on the canvas.

Step Three, Outlining!

Now, I use a very washed out and watered down version of my main colors (red and snail, in this case) to sort of mark out where I wasn't my subjects to be. You'll notice I did deviate from the thumbnail a little bit, which is absolutely fine. As long as it carries the same vibe, it generally isn't an issue.

Step Four, the rest?? Idk what to call this part.

Using less and less water in my paint to make it thicker and thicker, I work forward until it looks how I want it to. If you look closely you can still see some spots where the underpainting comes through the paint. I usually work dark to light. Since I use paper for these, this step usually also involves making some sort of makeshift press to flatten the paper back out, since it warps and bends a lot during painting. I also like putting a border around the subjects and some paint colors the same color as the underpainting/background.

Last step, let's goo!!!

Now that the tape is off, I tend to sharpie in a neat little border with a work title at the top and my name at the bottom. I also go into a digital software to do some slight touchups, usually just color rebalancing to fix my terrible lighting in my room and making the borders a little neater.

[a-big-mess-of-a-person]

I don't think anyone understands how ECSTATIC I am for DanandPhilGames to come back.

My sister watched these guys when I was much younger (like 8-10) and because she was my older sister, and they were funny as hell I liked them too. Of course all of the dirty jokes flew right over my head but I still enjoyed it. I started watching them without my sister around and I just became a fan! I watched the videos as soon as they came out and after they both stopped posting I kinda just watched the videos for comfort. Their content is my comfort content. It takes me to a place where I was just younger and oblivious. As they started to post again I dreamed of the day that we got more DaPG, but I doubted the day would ever come. Now that it is confirmed, I am so just.. excited. I can't explain it. I can't wait for Phil to say the intro again, and Dan make some funny quip about it. I can't wait for the new screams and laughs. I can't wait to see "DanandPhilGames Uploaded" in my notifications bar. I know that for me and many others it will just be a wave of nostalgia and joy. I am so excited for Round 2 of DanandPhilGames. I can't wait to make art, and references that nobody in school will understand. I missed it so dearly. And I'm so happy it's back.

I want to start this piece of art I have an idea for, but I need sleep, I have a big test tomorrow in school. I might sketch thumbnails for it though. I might update my Tumblr when I start it. Maybe I could do a post for every update. The art I'm thinking about doing would never really be done, so I could do that. I might, I'll think about it (I've already decided I will do it lol)

[binarybitex]

behind the scenes: Boss Babysitter

with the most recent chapter of Heart Hollow being released (Boss Babysitter), I thought I'd share some insights into my creation, writing, and notetaking for it.

caution: this post contains spoilers!

Welcome to Boss Babysitter; Mr. Andrei Wright decides he needs to come back down to the Hotel's floor after his Assistant Manager - Lewis Lockheart - destroys company property in an emotional overflow. Zeke, still processing having seen his orderly manager snap, has to join the two managers throughout daily tasks at Heart Hollow Hotel. The three of them oversee maintenance, attempt to review an end-of-week-report, and have a meeting with housekeeping. Not even halfway through the day, Mr. Wright decides it's time for lunch; Zeke offers him a cigarette outside in order to give the two managers some space. One questionable conversation later, Zeke trudges back inside to enjoy Lewis' company for the remainder of his break. After a brief history lesson and some comments that are just a bit too sweet for coworkers, Zeke and Lewis' attention is brought outside as Andrei Wright gets arrested for fraud.

the earliest mention of this chapter was from the very first Heart Hollow master arc list (dated 2019 or so). a lot of things have changed, but I knew from the get-go that Andrei was going to be arrested.

fun fact: when i was originally creating Heart Hollow in 2019, I was taking a much more adult-comedy-cartoon route. there was, in fact, going to be a shoot-out as (gasp) the FBI and (even bigger gasp) the IRS show up!!! i decided to scrap that. it just doesn't match the "real-life" drama route im taking now lol

the arc list from november 2021 is one of the first redrafts of the story after my 2-year art block.... the one from april 2022 was after I started making the comic. again, lots of things have changed, but I always outlined space for an episode revolving around Andrei's arrest

here's me brainstorming potential chapter names. i recall struggling with the name because i liked a lot of my options; however, i eventually stuck to "Boss Babysitter"

........

(eheheh it's a play on the hit DreamWorks film "The Boss Baby" featuring Alec Baldwin as "The Boss Baby")

the first idea on what i wanted the meat of the chapter to be about. i wanted to really put the nail in the coffin about Andrei's mismanagement and how that's been affecting Lewis.

more exploration into what the chapter was to be about. i find this one curious, actually, as this was from my earlier notebook (2021-2022) so I guuuuueeeeess I had a pretty good grasp on this chapter early on......??? thank god for notebooks bc it's really hard to keep everything crammed up in my brain.

the chapter before it ("The Heart of Heart Hollow") concluded on Lewis punching the employee bathroom's mirror. i had to bring up the aftermath, how Zeke was managing having seen that. i also wanted to touch upon Lewis' return back, and how unlike him it is to take an impromptu vacation like that. i knew even in the earliest drafts of this scene, that Lewis was going to lie about where he got his wounds from.

early sketches of Lewis' arrival after his impromptu vacation. these lil thumbnails make me giggle.... theyre just so silly lookin.

i also needed to consider how their day was spent with Andrei joining them. i broke it down piece by piece here, scene by scene. i love my additions of dialogue within my loose ideas. it really brings momentum to my writing process.

also, sidenote: can I just say that I do not hold the same beliefs as Andrei? he's a shit head and i wanted to make his character very uncomfortable to be around.

the scene between Andrei and Zeke was one I've had planned for years. it was so euphoric to finally write it out and send it out into the world. here's the snippet where he outwardly admits to his white collar crime.

for the longest time, I was going to reveal that Zeke was living at the Hotel at the very end of "Boss Babysitter"..... however, when I was writing the aftermath of the mirror break (in "The Heart of Heart Hollow"), I thought it appropriate to include Zeke's squatter status. the drama of the story starts to tie itself together as we witness Lewis do something dangerous and impulsive, and learn something rather confidential about Zeke. we start to wonder: who are these characters? what have they gone through to lead them here?

lastly...... just a little doodle of Andrei in prison garb. i love that he's let his beard grow a bit more.

[hugduckhesgay]

Can I ask what you use to animate??

Yus of course! I'm always very excited to help other people get into animation.

Right now I use Tahoma2d, it is free and a more user-friendly version of OpenToonz which is the famed, also free, software used for a lot of Miyazaki films. I used OpenToonz before Tahoma and def found Tahoma more intuitive. (Side note, you do need a decent computer to run it and not lag. I get by on an old, no-upgrades microsoft surface pro with a little finagling, though.)

It took a while for me to figure it out, and I probably am only familiar with 1/3rd of its capability tbh, which is enough to make what I want to make, tho I'm constantly learning more. I used tutorials on youtube to learn, there's a lot of good ones! You can use the opentoonz tutorials for tahoma too, basically the same interface

I never pay for art programs and thankfully there are plenty of people who believe they should be accessible that there are a lot of free resources.

I have also dabbled with GreasePencil in Blender, but yikes the learning curve is so steep, there are so many little technical details in the software that hold me up for hours. I want to learn it more someday, when I have the time, because it can do sooooo much!

I'll also add, that when I was first starting out and just wanted to be able to produce animations without much fuss, I used Pencil2d. Very simple! It helps to use that if one gets frustrated with learning a more complex program like Tahoma. Take a break, animate something easy that makes you happy, then try figuring it out again.

I do my thumbnailing, sketches etc in Medibang Paint, and if I need some video editing stuff, (like piecing together segments of a scene because i learned the hard way you're not meant to animate full 5-minute long scenes in one file lmao) I use Davinci Resolve, but I barely know how to use that one lol. That one is massive with effects and capabilities also. That one lags my laptop a lot more than tahoma..

You didn't ask for all this, but I tend to info dump because there are so many things i wish i knew when i first started animation. The downside of self-taught -- not knowing what questions to ask!, That said, idk if my information is even that great, being that I have no experience with the professional industry. Oh well, I hope this is helpful!

[copper-skulls]

How long do you spend on your art pieces in general?

I know a lot of artists who will spend weeks working on pieces little by little, and then a whole other lot will sit down for a few hours and draw from start to finish . It's just interesting to find out little bits about people's art processes and how different it is for everyone

Have a lovely day!!

Nowadays? Mostly 2-4 hours per piece, so I can sit down and finish them during a single evening. That's the square and traditionally inked stuff you see pretty often from me :) the formats of both of these limit the complexity of what can fit in, so they naturally don't take that long. Most of my artfight pieces also fit into this, apart from few that got away from me and needed a second evening.

When I start getting more complicated (which isn't that often rn, because it takes a certain kind of energy), it can climb REALLY FAST. Ex.: this thing (https://copper-skulls.tumblr.com/post/726934739427147777/yeehawgust-28-gunsmoke-thats-him-the-guy) isn't even shaded or properly coloured and took 6-8 hours. For these the process usually is picking away at the sketch for few evenings, then lining in small chunks since lining these things is exhausting and hard on the wrist, and then I blow through the colouring in an evening since I very much fall into the Zone(TM) (Yes, I do the whole forgetting to eat during these, and can pull staying-up-till-2am if I'm not careful lol). A4 or similar (which is the ratio I tend to pick bcs it lends itself well for my usual compositions) can climb to 12+ hours very easily :D they can also live in my sketchbook as thumbnails or full pages of trying to figure them out for literal months before I buckle down to work on them lol.

Thank you anon! 💚

[pioneeroverc-my-5000th-sideblog]

FOUR MONTH ART IMPROVEMENT RATE COMPARISON - May 2023

art block: 2/19 (from 2/19)

personal: 19/19

study/figure drawing sessions: 12/129 days(from 32/105) check numbers on these

Same goals as yearly - absolutely not, I've really fallen off on these. Currently re-evaluating whether these are actually doable

Finish DAB Lesson 7 - no, but I did make good progress on it last month!

1 finished piece with 2pt+ perspective plotted background (or two sketched screenshot studies with same) - I assume this was supposed to be 'per month'… I did five things with actual perspective in the entire four month period but two of them were just sketches and most of them were very plain and undetailed. NO WONDER I'm not getting better at this lol

one screenshot study per month - can focus on any area (perspective, expressions, colours, composition, etc.) - I DIDN'T DO THIS AT ALL

In May, I will have even more mileage drawing hands interacting with things and have experimented with different ways of ideating on composition thumbnails - actually true!Definitely not anywhere near good at drawing hands yet but my 3D sense improving is helping me draw interactions. I tried a few ways of doing thumbnails but nothing has really stuck more than my painful 'just draw a bunch of stuff and try to fit it together afterwards' process. At least I tried

Studies done: FIGUARY, DAB stuff, breakdowns for some random objects I needed to draw, Proko ribcage and shoulder bones, lots of tracing (boot opening contours, heads to see how eyes fit in at 3/4 view, stylised hair/outfit trims to see how different artists do them), one fold study, some form intersections

Ups and downs here, with periods of Good Study interspersed with (more) periods of I Am Too Unmotivated To Do Anything. Whenever I am struggling to draw something, I end up just not drawing anything at all, even stuff that's unrelated and should be fun for me. This is something I really wish I could overcome because it ends up making me more stressed out overall when I have The Thing I've Been Putting Off and then all my other fun ideas AND STUDIES in the back of my head that also feel like they have deadlines on them. I'm still having trouble drawing stuff that isn't a character staring blankly off-screen with a solid colour background.

I started drawing a bunch of fake FEH alts during this period, and although I've really enjoyed designing them and getting to do more in-depth inking and rendering for once, I do feel like my time could be better spent drawing full pieces with backgrounds and, like, any thought for composition (since I'm hitting my skill ceiling with perspective and anatomy in particular for the alts - and the full pieces look 5000x more impressive). I still have a bunch of time-sensitive ideas for them, so I'm really not sure what to do here.

IMPROVEMENT METRICS

Anatomy/gesture: I am CERTAIN that my figure drawing improved because of Figuary but none of my actual finished stuff reflects that… I'm going to say same as last year just because I literally can't tell

Backgrounds/perspective: Much worse than last year lol

Composition/storytelling: Thinking about negative space more and still trying to add supporting elements. Worse than last year though

Colours/values: still having problems with stuff being too dark but also still working on it. Screencap studies could probably help this. Starting to get better at controlling saturation. Actually better than last year! Woo! Not a total failure!

Lighting/rendering: better than last year again, CAN I PLEASE TRADE THIS POWER FOR SOMETHING THAT'S ACTUALLY USEFUL??

PLAN OF ACTION FOR NEXT FOUR MONTHS:

Re-evaluate yearly goals

Finish DAB Lesson 7

one screenshot study per month, focussing on values first

two object studies per month

In September, I will have a better understanding of how the parts of the body fit together and be better at manipulating them, as simplified forms, in 3d space.

[maskymoo]

Procreate. Never got the hang of it and I like to use it for animation instead.

I often draw characters facing to the right or left because drawing in the front can get a bit confusing for me, since many of the characters I draw have some sort of complication in their designs I need to spend extra time on when drawing them.

Idk. I guess you consider a very small detail that's part of the art style that I've had since I technically started my art.

Bella, Scar, and Annie. I love them to death but I often have trouble keeping their scars consistent between drawings.

I post most of my art online since I do usually post daily. There are a few drawings I keep for myself, but those are usually just sketches.

I know a lot of art styles from artists I use to like have served as unintentional inspiration for how I draw and parts of my style.

Rug art. spay painting, painting, embroidery, really any art that isn't digital. I would love to do those someday, but all the physical labor is difficult and I have a huge respect for people that do art like that.

I got a few, but making comics has always been a huge difficulty when I try to actually finish one. There's one piece I love about how it turned out, but it's actually an unfinished comic. I also have trouble making huge pieces that include more than 4 to 5 characters all interacting with each other.

Just put a and the number after that so when I upload a file of my art it shows at the front of my files. Makes my job easier since I upload on 4 different sites and I also try to share my art frequently

Robes/dresses. Long, don't take that long, can just be one color.

I usually listen to podcasts, videos, or playlists with music from Youtube. I got too many things to watch/listen to, so it all works out.

The entire face/head. Been practicing for years.

A few artists that I use to follow had lovely art, but the vibe of the art wasn't something I wasn't exactly fond of.

Depends on the piece and what story it may tell. So not exactly, but maybe in the future I'll figure out what motifs I like.

Anywhere lol. Home, in public, standing, sitting, laying down, doing a back kick on a kid, as long as I can hold my tablet with minimum shaking, I'm fine drawing anywhere.

Flipping the canvas. I love to see how much I've improved with how both sides look, but it kinda sucks since I'm not used to it and it takes up more time when I'm drawing.

Yep! Anything really as long as I can munch/sip on while drawing.

Had a tablet of mine broken by someone else. I try to be very careful with my stuff since it's all expensive.

Flowers and pillows. Means it's usually a simple, happy piece!

Hands, the other eye, doing a fullbody. I mean, I did work hard to master those things, which I am proud of!

Semi/realistic art. Whether it can still be considered cartoon art or not, I love those ttyposstyles, and I can only hope that with time and practice, I can also develop a style like that.

I stretch my arms and hands.

Nope!

Yep. All the time!

Stories that I've never read before but that person has.

Someone asked my if a feral cat I drew had boobs. It was a very uncomfortable experience.

No. Just straight into work.

I've entered into a few thumbnail contests for MAPs and I am currently in a zine. I've also been part of a few collabrotions that are still kinda in the works.

A lot cartoons watch inspire me to create, but not as specific inspiration for my art.

The piece below isn't underrated itself, I just love showing it around like a parent with their kid. It's just fun to show a piece I genuinly shows my ability as an artist.

Weirdly Specific Artist Ask Game

Didn't see a lot of artist ask games, wanted to make a silly one.

(I wrote this while sick out of my mind last year and it's been collecting dust in my drafts, I might as well let it run free) 1. Art programs you have but don't use

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)

3. What ideas come from when you were little

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

9. What are your file name conventions

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

12. Easiest part of body to draw

13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing

14. Any favorite motifs

15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth)

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing

17. Do you eat/drink when drawing? if so, what

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.)

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any

23. Do you use different layer modes

24. Do your references include stock images

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines)

29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

[cisthehuman]

Tooth Hiatus evolved into I'm Broke Hiatus

This week, I originally planned to start streaming again. Buuuuuuut...

My work performance is kinda not great. Ever since my tooth surgery my sleep schedule has been shot and while I haven't gotten too bad at work. My brain is not where it needs to be. So, I have to be extra responsible and focus on my job for a little bit.

This pains me, as I really like streaming and I want to grow! I had a goal to possibly hit affiliate on twitch by my birthday in July and I wanted to work as hard as I can do so! I still have time, but you know....I'm eager to get started!!!!

But money has been tight after paying off my tooth surgery bills and I still have medical bills from last year/this year for my PCOS diagnosis that I need to cover...so I need to focus on work.

With that being said, I'll still work on things behind the scenes! It's time for.....CisLunar Updates!!!!!

Update 1: Music Previews!!

1A--I've got previews made for Cosmic Canary Radio (the stream music) volumes 1-3 done! Take a gander at all of them! I'm actually going to link to the previews on twitter as I'm afraid of how heavy this post is LOL

Cosmic Canary Radio Vol 1

Cosmic Canary Radio Vol 2

Cosmic Canary Radio Vol 3

1B--Artist Albums are close to coming out!

There are 4 Albums by different artists in Lunar's world that are ready to get out into the world. To world build, I thought it would be fun to make up artists and make little albums for them. Now I'm not great with music, so please have some grace lol But I'm kinda proud of them! I've held this close to my chest for a while so I'll go ahead and say the name of the artist and their corresponding album along with the genre! Also enjoy a little snippet!

Hoshi*ga*Hoshii: The Sun Glares at You

Genre: Space hop

Mori: My Forest

Genre: genuinely i'm unsure what to call this genre....experimental? Forest hop? Experimental jazz/classical?

Infinity: Inorganic in Organic

Genre: Avant pop, indie electronic, they're heavily inspired by the band Stereolab.

Siren: *Title Pending*

Genre: Alternative rock, pop rock, they're based off of Coldplay's sound

Of course, one artist, BATTY, already has 2 albums already ready for you to listen to!

BATTY!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YByE09cEZpM

Transylvania: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbe77vSKoyI

Update 2: Thumbnails!!

I've been loosely reading posts I find in how to gain more viewers to streams and one suggestion that I liked was making thumbnails! So I made some for the upcoming games!

Now you know what are vibes are when I come back~ Also I like that I made Lunar different sizes in each one, that's fun lolol I'm just now noticing that.

Update 3: Lunar's New Expressions!

I was able to commission the artist that made the Lunar pngtuber, marchemis, some new expressions for Lunar!! I gave a little sketch for each! Sketching this was really fun.

Finally Lunar can be mad when I am mad lolol

Update 4: Compiling Art for future DevLogs~

Today I've been mentally thinking of a list of topics for dev logs. A couple are Cis the Parasite Design process, Champs Design process, and more! Here's a couple of pictures I've been compiling for these!

There are more, but they're not saved as pngs yet and/or theyre in my sketchbook/random pieces of paper.

Update 5: New Lunar Illustration and 2nd Outfit Planning

I've been slowly tinkering away at a new illustration for Lunar in celebration of spring! I'm changing up my coloring style a bit which is why it's taking me longer than usual (and also I'm hooked on Pixel Cafe, but that's neither here nor there). Take a gander!

Lunar is also going to get a new outfit soon! And while I drew up several last year, it's actually going to look similar to this! There might be some changes but it'll be very very similar to this!

The artist I commissioned before, marchemis, had another round of commissions open, but I didn't have the funds nor an idea for a second outfit for Lunar! A goal for next time is to save enough for up for it!

Listing this out like this, I'm like actually working. I did more than I thought I have lolol The one thing I haven't worked on is the script for the kinetic story. I'll make plans to work on that in the coming weeks.

I'm actually planning on buying Spirit City! It's a coworking game! If I'm lucky and it works on my old school set up! Maybe I can just stream me working on stream stuff for a while! But I'll let you know if things work!

Anyway! Thanks for your understanding for all of the hiatuses. Things aren't tough, but they are tedious. And as this month isn't the best for me mentally, I will do my best to power through! So if you see me streaming randomly during this hiatus, come on by!

See you in the next one~

[thequeenofthestorm]

Art Mob Day I

Hi! I'm starting a new thing I've dubbed "Art Mob". Before you ask, yes this is exactly the same thing as what SnowflakeBrave has been doing, but I put a cool name over because fuck you. The rules are essentially as follows:

Every day of each month, I will draw one art piece a day

If I forget or skip a day, I must draw something symbolizing despair. Anyone familiar with Snowflake's rules will realize I remove the skipped day rule, because I felt this rule wasn't ever really called forward

My minimum pixel size is 24x24 (roughly), and the final day of each month I must draw something at least 128x128 pixels (again, roughly)

Every month, I'll add a new modifier to help me work on my skills

Each month will also have a theme to make things more interesting!

I hope to use this as a fun challenge and to help further my own art skills so that I can, say, my thumbnails better! This first month will be based around armor, as I NEED to get better at drawing chainmail and certain helmets lol

October 1st | "Thoust said WHAT about my Mother?"